Dip the Bamboo

Lin Yu stared at the message for a moment, then put his phone away, deciding to act as if he had just experienced a bout of amnesia and hadn't seen anything at all...

...

Outside the room, Xia Yueshan lowered the metal chestpiece of the stethoscope from the door, though no one knew where he had even gotten the thing from.

Having overheard the conversation inside, his expression was grave, a deep frown etched between his brows.

The South Sea?

What South Sea?

And Nanning City?

Xia Yueshan shot a sharp look at the tightly shut door before him, his gaze seeming to pierce through the wood to where Lin Yu was sneaking around behind it.

He gritted his teeth.

An idea solidified with absolute certainty in his mind.

This guy is definitely up to something!

Before Lin Yu could come out, Xia Yueshan quickly put the stethoscope back where it belonged, then returned to the computer room, pretending nothing had happened. Shortly after, Lin Yu returned as well.

Both pretended nothing was amiss, resuming their gaming and snacking, a picture of harmonious camaraderie.

"Phew."

Another difficult level cleared, Xia Yueshan stretched and stood up. He casually picked up a phone from the desk, muttering,

"Gonna hit the bathroom."

Lin Yu shot him a sidelong glance without changing his expression and remarked flatly,

"You grabbed the wrong phone."

"Huh?"

Xia Yueshan let out a confused sound, looking down at the phone in his hand. Realizing it was indeed Lin Yu's, he gave an awkward laugh and said,

"Oops, our phones look kinda similar. My mistake."

Lin Yu glanced at the two phones, which didn't even share the same camera design, and wondered how Xia Yueshan could lie so brazenly with a straight face.

Ever since returning from his phone call earlier, Lin Yu had noticed Xia Yueshan was acting strange.

He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.

Everything about him seemed odd. He wasn't focused on the game, constantly stealing glances at Lin Yu's phone.

Could he have overheard something?

Lin Yu thought it over, feeling puzzled.

No way, right?

He hadn't been speaking loudly earlier, and he was far from the door. There was no way he could have heard anything.

Maybe it was the act of stepping out to take the call that made him suspicious?

Hmm...

That was a possibility.

While privately pondering the reasons for Xia Yueshan's odd behavior, Lin Yu's peripheral vision caught something: Xia Yueshan was still holding his phone, not putting it back on the table.

Lin Yu looked up curiously at Xia Yueshan, unsure what he was planning.

Xia Yueshan was also looking at Lin Yu. His face was expressionless, but the slight tension in his facial muscles betrayed him; his inner turmoil was clearly not as calm as his exterior suggested.

His eyes, which somewhat resembled Xia Muzhu's, gleamed brightly. For some reason, such eyes on Xia Muzhu's face seemed tender and warm as spring, but on his face, they just looked cunning and shrewd.

A faint sense of foreboding rose in Lin Yu's heart. He tensed up, ready to react to any sudden developments.

Lin Yu looked at Xia Yueshan.

Xia Yueshan looked at Lin Yu.

They stared at each other like that, neither saying a word.

After a few seconds, Xia Yueshan suddenly moved. He spun around and darted out of the room with sprint-like speed, still clutching Lin Yu's phone.

Although Lin Yu had been prepared, his physical limitations prevented him from subduing Xia Yueshan the moment he acted. Now that Xia Yueshan had gained some distance, Lin Yu could only give chase in his wheelchair.

"Yueshan!"

Lin Yu shouted in exasperation.

The wheelchair's speed was no match for Xia Yueshan's full-out run, and its maneuverability in the room was severely limited. Lin Yu simply couldn't catch up.

Xia Yueshan was also crafty. After bolting from the gaming room, he headed straight for the bathroom. Once inside, he locked the door, completely cutting off Lin Yu's pursuit.

The commotion caught Xia Muzhu's attention. She emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron printed with cute kitten faces, holding a wooden spatula. Her long black hair was tied back, the very image of a virtuous wife.

Lin Yu forced a dry smile and said,

"It's nothing, just messing around with Xia Yueshan."

"Oh."

Xia Muzhu didn't doubt him, gently reminding them to be careful before happily heading back to the kitchen with her spatula to prepare dinner.

With the bathroom door locked, Lin Yu couldn't get in. He could only wheel back to the gaming room and carefully try to recall if there was anything incriminating on his phone.

After some thought, the heart that had been in his throat settled down a bit.

Right.

His phone was pretty clean, nothing to hide.

Even so, Lin Yu still felt uneasy.

What if this brat contacted someone to test the waters? There really were a couple of people on his phone who were like powder kegs, ready to blow at the slightest provocation!

Lin Yu was anxious, but he couldn't stop Xia Yueshan from doing whatever he was doing. He could only sit in his wheelchair, feeling the immense pressure of a prisoner awaiting a court sentence.

Everyone has their own way of coping with stress.

Some might have a smoke, others might eat something.

Lin Yu's stress-relief method was just as common as those: playing a couple of games.

By focusing on the game and not thinking about other things, the pressure naturally eased a lot.

Lin Yu played for a while before Xia Yueshan returned.

Lin Yu glanced at him as he entered. Judging by his expression, he didn't seem to have found any damning evidence.

As Lin Yu expected, Xia Yueshan returned the phone.

Although Lin Yu desperately wanted to immediately check if he had sent any messages or made any calls, he held back.

He didn't think Xia Yueshan would do something like that.

Yeah.

Probably not...

The phone was returned, but Xia Yueshan's tone wasn't exactly friendly. Instead, it carried a hint of interrogation as he asked,

"Why did you lie about going to Nanning?"

Hearing this question, Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat.

How did he know?

Did he call Tang Manman?

Lin Yu didn't believe Xia Yueshan could have overheard his conversation with Tang Manman from outside the door. He countered,

"How do you know about that?"

"Heard it outside the door, obviously."

Xia Yueshan shrugged.

Learning that Xia Yueshan hadn't called Tang Manman, Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

"To avoid trouble."

Afraid of saying too much and slipping up, Lin Yu kept his answer brief.

Xia Yueshan plopped down onto the computer chair beside him. Looking at Lin Yu, he said with a somewhat lacking confidence.

"Lin Yu, listen. Even though the way you and my sister got together was a bit... unexpected."

"Now that you're with her, you can't do her wrong, got it?"

"You have to uphold male virtue!"

Hearing this, Lin Yu shot him a sidelong glance. For a moment, there were too many snarky remarks he wanted to make, but in the end, he just uttered a single line that denied the concern while secretly agreeing with it.

"Tell me something I don't know."